Taiwan: Old Myths and New Realities

 by George T. Chang

Excerpt from "A speech delivered at the Sectretary's Open Forum",  U.S. Department of State, Washington D.C.,  October 14,1987

Mr. Chairman and Distinguished Guests of the Open Forum,

I wish to thank you for this opportunity to address the Forum today on the subject of the future of Taiwan.

 Taiwan has presented U.S. policy-makers with a dilemma since the days of World War II. Since 1949, there have been two Chinese regimes, one in Beijing and the other in Taipei. Both regimes claim that there is but one China and that Taiwan is part of China. This is the most publicized myth concerning Taiwan. Meanwhile, there have been three different images of Taiwan itself. There is the mythical Taiwan, the real Taiwan, and the Taiwan of the future, including the Taiwanese aspiration for a free and independent Taiwan. Tough and pragmatic political decisions about Taiwan must cut through the myths, deal with reality, and side with the popular will of the people of Taiwan. In Taiwan today, many people are actively discussing the future of Taiwan and the form of government under which they wish to live. 

 The Myth ¡@

The myth is that Taiwan is somehow a part of China, which somehow and someday ought to be "reunited". The People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Nationalists (KMT) agree on this and on almost nothing else. They trumpet this myth while those who disagree, the native Taiwanese, are nearly voiceless or unheard. But this does not make the myth any less absurd or any less misleading as the basis for a foreign policy for other governments. 

Taiwan is geographically separated from China by 100 miles of water. The Taiwanese national character and identity have been gradually shaped over several centuries and during this long period the history of the relationship between China and Taiwan has been tenuous and often conflictive. A succession of foreign governments, the Dutch, the Spanish, the Portuguese, and the Manchu have exercised partial control over various parts of Taiwan from the 17th to 19th centuries. ¡@

While it is true that the earliest emigrants from China to Taiwan fled from poverty and oppression on the mainland, it is also true that these people never went to Taiwan with the idea of contributing to the territorial expansion of China. Before 1895, China's interest in Taiwan was casual at best. It was not until 1887 that China made Taiwan a province. However, eight years later, defeated in the Sino-Japanese War, China ceded Taiwan to Japan in perpetuity. Thus from 1895 to 1945, Taiwan was a Japanese colony. ¡@

For most of its history, China considered Taiwan "beyond the pale of Chinese civilization." So it is not so surprising that in 1936 in his conversations with Edgar Snow, that Mao Tse Tung, when distinguishing Formosa and Korea from the so-called "lost territories of China," promised to help Korea and Formosa in their struggles for independence. China was never that interested in Taiwan until Chiang Kai-Shek set up a rival regime there in 1950. 

In addition to this historical aspect of Taiwan, the legal status of Taiwan also remains to be settled. You may recall that, after World War II, the Western Allies, having defeated Japan, thereby ending 50 years of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan, never decided who should assume political authority there. No post-war treaty assigned Taiwan to China or to anyone else. General MacArthur authorized Chiang Kai-Shek to take over Taiwan on behalf of the Allied powers pending future developments. Therefore, as Professor Michael Reisman of Yale Law School emphatically pointed out in his article "Who Owns Taiwan: A Search For International Title," Taiwan belongs neither to the Nationalists nor to the Communists, but to the Taiwanese. 

In light of this legal situation, the Canadian and Italian governments and a host of other governments have done no more than "take note" of Beijing's claim over Taiwan when they have recognized the PRC. 

Taiwan Realities¡@

Let us turn now from myths to realities. Perhaps the most obvious fact about Taiwan consists in this: for the past forty years, Taiwan has existed as a separate political entity, independent of mainland China. Changing this situation from a de facto into a de jure status requires one simple step--recognizing the right of the Taiwanese people to self-determination. Taiwan is clearly a viable independent political entity. Taiwan has a population of 19 million people which is larger than two-thirds of the members of the United Nations. According to a survey conducted by the Heritage Foundation in 1982, 84.2% of a sample of U.S. citizens thought that Taiwan should be considered an independent state. This survey clearly indicates that the majority of people in the United States do not consider Taiwan to be part of China. 

Economically, Taiwan is also a viable entity. Taiwan is a major player in the world economy. It has bilateral trade with over a hundred nations. Taiwan is the fifth largest trading partner of the United States and is a leading market for U.S. agricultural products. Domestically, Taiwan is enjoying a thriving economy with a per capita income of $3,630 in 1986, which is more than ten times the per capita income of PRC. 

Geographically, the importance of Taiwan has always been recognized. The fact is that Taiwan sits astride a vital and strategic waterway. Korea, Japan and the Philippines are also strategic U.S. allies in the Pacific. It is clear that a free and independent Taiwan would add to the security of this region of the Pacific.¡@

 But the most important reality in Taiwan is the Taiwanese people. The energies and potential of the people are surely Taiwan's richest asset. Taiwanese believe that with the sophistication and high level of economic and social development, Taiwan has achieved, we could establish Taiwan as the "Switzerland of Asia." 

Taiwanese Aspirations¡@

A fair and free plebiscite conducted inside Taiwan is the only sure way to prove what many have consistently proclaimed over the years: that given a choice in a free and honest referendum, the overwhelming majority of the Taiwanese would opt for independence. The 1959 Conlon report stated that "The Taiwanese people themselves have given considerable indication of wishing to remain separate from the Mainland and this could be tested by plebiscite if this were agreed upon." And shortly after the conclusion of the Nixon-Chou meetings which culminated in the Shanghai Communique, Ambassador Reischauer of Harvard commented, "As best one can judge, the vast majority of them (Taiwanese) appear to yearn for a Taiwan separate from China and a government they themselves control." Mr. William Bueler, a former agent of the CIA who served in Taiwan from 1964 to 1968, was interviewed by the New York Times at the same time and said that "nearly all politically aware Taiwanese wanted to see Taiwan independent of the Chinese Nationalists who rule the island and the Chinese Communists who claim it." Many other China specialists have agreed with this position over the years. 

It is not only recently that strong native support for Taiwan independence has been evident. In 1971, the Presbyterian church, the oldest and largest Protestant denomination in Taiwan dared to speak publicly for the right of self-determination for all the people of Taiwan. In 1977, they went even further to urge the KMT "to face reality and to take effective measures whereby Taiwan may become a new and independent country. Just last year, an opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party, was formed in defiance of martial law restrictions. They adopted, "The future of Taiwan should be determined by the people who live on Taiwan in accordance with the principle of self-determination," as their number one political platform. But more recent developments inside Taiwan strongly indicate that the public support of the people of Taiwan for independence is on the increase. People are daring to speak in public about the future of Taiwan. One hears the words independence and self-determination with increasing frequency, as many visitors report.